Star Trek Online

I have been a trekker for quite some time and was very excited to hear that there was finally going to be Star Trek MMO. The attempt from Perpetual Entertainment was looking like it would be the end all be all for a sci-fi themed MMO but, from 2004-2008 there was nothing more than a few artists renders and some interior screenshots. As Perpetual decides to close up shop, Cryptic/Atari get the IP rights to Star Trek Online.

Now we come to Cryptic... they did great with the City of Heroes/Villains games but ultimately sold them off to NCSoft. Their next endeavor was Champions online(which was a revamped Marvel Universe Online after Marvel pulled out of the deal) which could have been a great game but it felt too rushed.. lacked polish and content.




Star Trek Online, or STO, used the same engine as Champions Online, which allowed Cryptic to get the game out very quickly with very little content. I guess this was done to appease Atari but at the same time it left a bad taste in a good number of people's mouths. So much so that lifetime subscribers were calling to get the money back.

I was not a "lifer" but I tried to give STO a fair shake by playing for one moth past my free 30 days. In that time I have submitted numerous outstanding bugs (I was also in the open beta and reported the same ones), gotten 2 of my 3 characters to Rear Admiral status(in level terms the game only shipped with 45 levels and Rear Admiral starts at level 41), and watched the lackluster patches attempt to fix issues and add content.
The game is by no means for a hardcore player. I consider myself a casual player and was able to max out almost all my character slots.
The idea that to get good things you must use real world cash for micro-transactions in addition to your monthly subscription is something I do not like at all, but it is the way cryptic has decided to go in STO.

Is STO a good game? Yes and No.. Yes as it can be something a trekker/trekkie would enjoy to a degree to get their Star Trek fix but it is by no means a good game for a hardcore player or someone looking for this to add depth to the Trek IP.
As a Trek fan I have to say this game is a complete failure as it was built on broken promises from Cryptic on what this game was going to be when it was released to the masses.

If you have $30-$50 to blow and really want to play this.. who am I to stop you, but I would strongly suggest putting that money to better use than STO.